£7m for finance & energy data services
15 January 2025
Smart Data Research UK is announcing further investment of £7 million in two new data services.
The Financial Data Service and Smart Energy Data Service will join four data services confirmed in October.
Together, the six Smart Data Research UK data services will put the UK at the forefront of smart data research and innovation by providing safe and efficient ways for UK researchers to access and use smart data.
Smart data is data generated through everyday interactions with the digital world, including via mobile apps, navigation systems, social media, and shopping. It offers a powerful opportunity to understand society and improve lives.
New data services
Financial Data Service
The Financial Data Service will provide unprecedented insights into the economic health of the UK through secure access to de-identified banking and finance data from millions of households and businesses. By partnering with financial institutions and leading research institutes, this service will deliver detailed evidence about financial behaviours, economic resilience, and regional economic activity. This data will enable researchers to tackle urgent policy challenges including the cost-of-living crisis, financial inclusion, the changing nature of employment, and productivity in different economic sectors and geographic areas. The service will enable a transformation in our understanding of how economic shocks and policy interventions affect different communities, helping policymakers design more targeted and effective responses to economic challenges.
Led by Professor Chris Dibben from the University of Edinburgh and Dougie Robb from Smart Data Foundry.
Smart Energy Data Service
The Smart Energy Data Service will transform our understanding of the UK’s energy system by providing secure access to data from power networks, electric vehicles and energy meters alongside socio-economic indicators. This integrated view of energy patterns and their social context will help tackle critical policy challenges around net zero, energy security and fairness. The service will support new research into complex human and economic systems, supporting evidence-based decisions about energy infrastructure investment, reducing disparities in urban and rural areas, and improving energy efficiency in schools, hospitals and other public buildings. The service brings together organisations including the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Hartree Centre.
Led by Richard Snape from the Energy Systems Catapult and Professor Peter Grindrod from the University of Oxford.
The two new data services will join the other four services:
- Imagery Data Service (Imago)
- Smart Data Donation Service
- Geographic Data Service
- Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service
The data services will work collaboratively as part of the Smart Data Research UK programme to:
- Acquire, steward, and enable safe access to a diverse range of smart data.
- Develop user-friendly services that support research and collaboration across academic disciplines.
- Ensure responsible use of data through good governance, public engagement, transparency and ethical guidelines.
- Build capacity within the research community by providing training, tools, and resources.
- Enable impactful discoveries by serving as centres of excellence for smart data research.
A strategic hub, based within the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will provide leadership and coordination. It will also offer common services and ethical guidance.
“With these two new data services completing our portfolio, Smart Data Research UK will offer a powerful, multidisciplinary infrastructure for smart data research. Our six interconnected services will enable researchers to access unprecedented insights across finance, energy, health, geography, and beyond – empowering innovative solutions to complex societal challenges facing the UK today.”
Joe Cuddeford, Director of Smart Data Research UK
“This investment in a new network of smart data services helps put the UK at the forefront of data-driven innovation. Data infrastructure is as critical to our shared prosperity as transport, water or power networks. When we invest in data infrastructure we are investing in economic growth, improved public services, and a more sustainable future.”
Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council
The UKRI Infrastructure Fund
Smart Data Research UK is part of the UKRI Infrastructure Fund.
This strategic fund supports the facilities, equipment and resources that are essential for researchers and innovators to do ground-breaking work. It helps to create a long-term pipeline of research and innovation infrastructure investment priorities for the next 10-20 years. It supports multiple projects from new infrastructures to major upgrades, delivering a step change in infrastructure capability and capacity.
The fund spans the complete disciplinary spectrum. It funds infrastructures across all of the UK’s regions and nations and those forming part of major international collaborations.